It was never confirmed or resolved, and at the end of the day, the cause of death isn’t something that overrides the fact that it was a very unfortunate situation. There were several wrestlers who had their say on Rude’s death, with Honky Tonky Man and Jake Roberts considering a potential suicide. It must be noted that this is all hearsay, and Patera isn’t exactly someone with a clean track record to take his words for granted. Utilizing these medications to the extent that he did could have been due to him not thinking overly clearly. There has been little else to suggest this concretely, but it has been known for drug cocktails to have an adverse effect on health in more ways than one. Ken Patera spoke to Hannibal TV, explaining that one of Rude’s close friends, Jim Neidhart, revealed that preceding his death, Rude had “lost his mind” for several reasons. When it comes to the details concerning Rick Rude’s death, it was said that a mixture of medications had led to his heart failure, and it may have been affecting his mentality too.
